Dick's Sporting Goods is a sporting goods retailer founded in 1948 by Richard Dick Stack. They currently operate 322 stores in 34 states, primarily in the Eastern United States. The main customer group that Dick's tries to cater to is customers who are looking for authentic and unique products at competitive prices. Their merchandise includes sporting goods, fitness equipment, and fishing and hunting accessories. Dick's goal is to be a high-quality retailer carrying well-known brands such as Nike, North Face, Columbia, Adidas, Callaway and Under Armour. The sporting goods industry has approximately 20,000 stores. Dick's main competitors are Cabala's, Big 5 Sporting Goods, Sports Authority and Modell's. A Saturated Sporting Goods Industry The sporting goods retail industry's 20,000 stores generate combined revenues of about $25 billion each year. There are four different types of sporting goods retailers. The first are the big chain stores like Dick's Sporting Goods, Cabela's and Big 5 Sporting Goods. The second type are stores such as WalMart, Target, and Sears that contain small sporting goods sections. The third types of sporting goods stores are specialty stores that offer more in-depth product lines focused on a given team or sport. Finally, the final types of sporting goods stores are online retail stores focused on a particular team or sport. Extreme Rivalry Between Competing FirmsPorter's Five Forces Model is used to analyze profitability and competition in the sporting goods retail market. The retail industry in general is extremely competitive. The industry as a whole faces a low growth rate and high market fragmentation. In the sporting goods retail industry, companies must...... middle of paper ...... acquire these products at a price from the supplier, which essentially determines their profitability. Suppliers have high bargaining power when there are many buyers and few suppliers. Therefore, products have a high value and companies are forced to incur costs based on supplier demand. Additionally, industries are not the supplier's main customers. In the sporting goods retail industry, companies purchase their merchandise from different types of suppliers because they offer a wide range of products. Their products vary from premium to lower quality branded products and for the average customer, they are generally looking to get the best quality at the lowest price. As a result, the bargaining power of suppliers is weak. Since suppliers also use sporting goods companies to sell their products and sell them in larger quantities, they tend to allow companies to negotiate.